Bob Baffert’s Suspension in New York Is Overturned in Federal Court

The New York Racing Association had sanctioned Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer, after his Kentucky Derby-winning horse failed a post-race drug test.

A federal judge on Wednesday said the horse trainer Bob Baffert could race in New York State, nullifying a suspension by the New York Racing Association. In her written ruling, Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York said Baffert had not been offered the opportunity to respond to claims made against him after Medina Spirit, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, failed a post-race drug test at the track, Churchill Downs. Amon said that a prompt post-suspension hearing, where Baffert could have rebutted any claims against him, was needed to adhere to the Constitution. But she said the racing association “had held no hearing — let alone a prompt one.”